¶1. (SBU) Summary: Chiefs of Mission of Embassies Manila, Jakarta,
Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Phnom Penh, Dhaka and Colombo fully support
the FY2008 regional proposal developed by U.S. Pacific Command
(USPACOM). This year’s $143 million package builds upon last year’s
submission to improve regional maritime security from the Indian
Ocean to the Philippines and partner countries’ surveillance,
cross-border communication and interdiction capabilities. End
Summary.

¶2. (SBU) DOD and State officials from Embassies Manila, Jakarta,
Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Phnom Penh, Dhaka and Colombo, in
collaboration with USPACOM, have developed a regional 1206 proposal
designed to further develop host-nation capabilities to counter
terrorist threats in South and Southeast Asia. The FY08 proposal
builds upon our efforts in FY06, which established a capacity to
protect the Strait of Malacca and Sri Lankan coastal waters, and in
FY07, which extended this capacity in the Sulu and Sulawesi Seas in
the border region shared by the Philippines, Indonesia, and
Malaysia. This area is a priority in the war against terrorism in
Southeast Asia.

¶3. (SBU) Our FY08 proposal ensures a high degree of synergy among
specific country programs, including uniformity of equipment and
systems in the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia, to establish a
seamless interface among their respective maritime security efforts.
Three years on, Section 1206 assistance has moved from
high-priority, but largely isolated, strategies to a synchronized
regional effort. We envision using Foreign Military Financing (FMF)
and other sources to sustain programs initiated in this year’s and
previous 1206 packages.

PROVIDING BASIC CAPABILITIES

¶4. (SBU) Our regional FY08 Section 1206 proposal consists of an
agreed upon list of 24 projects ranked in priority order. Our
missions have worked closely with host-country officials to identify
these projects and ensure host-country endorsement. The focus of
our effort is to improve the basic capabilities — domain awareness,
communications, and interdiction — targeted in our FY06 and FY07
programs:

— Domain Awareness. Countries in the region have difficulty
monitoring the volume, identity and nature of the ship traffic in
their waters. Our proposal emphasizes, even more than previous
years, the installation of land-based and sea-based maritime radars
and other types of surveillance and identification equipment in the
tri-border area of Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines and
other key points between Sri Lanka and the Philippines to monitor
vessels suspected of carrying terrorists, weapons, or drugs, as well
as engaging in human trafficking and other illegal activities. If
necessary these systems can link to similar systems elsewhere in the
region. In addition, this year’s proposal establishes for the first
time some basic capabilities in air surveillance.

— Communications: Despite improvements achieved through our FY07
proposal, countries in the region still have only limited abilities
to share information and intelligence with each other or with U.S.
counterparts. This shortcoming sharply limits their ability to
track and pursue ships across maritime borders. The FY08 proposal
establishes additional communication centers at strategic points in
the region, which will provide them the capacity to interoperate
with existing U.S. networks, and facilitate data sharing between
tactical forces and national headquarters.

— Interdiction. Countries in the region have a growing, but still
spotty, ability to inspect and interdict suspect ships. This year’s
proposal also provides small craft and other interdiction equipment
to enable military forces in the region to board and inspect ships
thought to be carrying contraband. Our FY06 and FY07 proposals
contained capabilities in this area, but those capabilities
generally received lower prioritization and, unfortunately, largely
went unfunded. Our progress in building domain awareness and
communications capacity through FY06 and FY07 assistance now makes
improving interdiction capacity a logical next step for FY08.

BUILDS ON EXISTING PROGRAMS

¶5. (SBU) Our proposal maximizes the use of existing U.S. military

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exercises in the region, as well as initiatives managed by other
agencies. We have worked closely with USPACOM, Special Operations
Command Pacific, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Joint Interagency Task Force
West (JIATF-W) and other commands to ensure that PACOM planners
understand our 1206 objectives and develop realistic scenarios in
future exercises that will help host nations test and improve their
new capabilities.

¶6. (SBU) We intend the FY08 proposal to complement other USG
non-defense efforts to encourage and enable countries in the region
to think and act multilaterally to address common problems. We
designed our proposal to support other U.S. counterterrorism
initiatives, including S/CT’s Border Control Assessment Initiative
in the tri-border area and anticipated funding for INL’s Philippine
National Police Maritime unit. Various aspects also dovetail with
similar and related initiatives under way by other donor countries,
including Japan, Australia, India and New Zealand, as well as other
multinational initiatives such as the Trilateral Initiative on
Counterterrorism involving the United States, Australia and Japan.
Officials from the Department of Homeland Security, JIATF-W, and the
Australian Ministry of Defense participated as observers in the
development of the FY08 proposal.

¶7. (SBU) We recognize the importance of host-nation responsibility
for operations and maintenance of the capabilities provided in this
proposal. Where necessary, but only as interim steps, the use of
other programs such as FMF ensures no lapse in achieved capabilities
until host nations can assume this responsibility. We also continue
to rely on other U.S. non-defense assistance programs, particularly
to maritime police and other border-control forces, in providing
relevant equipment, particularly in the area of interdiction. Given
that Section 1206 does not cover non-military security forces, these
non-defense assistance programs prove critical to supporting the
overall success of USG combating terrorism efforts.

IN ACCORD WITH KEY U.S. STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

¶8. (SBU) Combating terrorism and promoting regional stability in
South and Southeast Asia are U.S. national priorities. Section 1206
assistance is a central component of USG efforts to achieve these
objectives. To the extent that we can build basic maritime
interdiction capacity in host nations through 1206 assistance, our
partners in South and Southeast Asia will be better able to
contribute to and support U.S. counterterrorism objectives.